Support Service On Shaky Ground

Bensenville's Project Puente, Which Teaches English Language And Culture, Is Losing Its Main Source Of Funding.

December 06, 1999|By LeAnn Spencer, Tribune Staff Writer.

Manuela Reveles of Addison perches politely on a child-size chair in a Headstart classroom in Bensenville and talks about why she left her small town in Mexico for the United States about eight years ago.

"There, we had nothing. My husband had no work," said Reveles, who has four children ages 2 to 11. "We came for work."

And work is what they got, lots of it. Some of the work, like the factory job Reveles' husband holds down, brings a paycheck, but much of the work is a different sort. The kind that requires learning a new language, culture and customs.

For Reveles and others like her, it has not been easy. But thanks to a Bensenville program that works to promote family literacy, Reveles is learning English and getting help in navigating the often confusing layers of American culture.

The program is called Project Puente: Bridge for Family Literacy, and, for the last three years, it has worked to help scores of immigrants make a smooth transition into American life.

But Project Puente is in danger of folding, say founders, because its seed money is drying up. And, if other funding sources are not found, the program could end by next summer.

"Without other funds we will not be able to maintain the current level of programming, if at all," said Carol Garcia, project director and coordinator for English as a Second Language and family literacy at the College of DuPage.

Project Puente was started about four years ago in partnership with the College of DuPage, the Bensenville Public Library, St. Alexis Catholic Church and Lifelink/Headstart, a social service agency. The college, library, church and agency provide resources and space for the project.

Funding for the program, however, has come primarily from a $35,000 annual state grant designed to help literacy programs get off the ground. The grant expires in June, meaning that Garcia is looking around for other sources of money.

Project Puente serves about 70 families, Garcia said, with a variety of activities, not the least of which is teaching them English and providing them with a meal once a week, and offering an evening of family activities such as storytelling or crafts.

The program is particularly important for mothers who typically don't have jobs, say social workers, and who have little chance to learn or practice English.

As a result, they become more isolated, not only from American culture, but even from their children. They are unable to help their children with homework because they cannot read the assignments. They cannot participate in parent-teacher conferences at school because they do not speak the language.

In addition to offering support, other benefits of Project Puente include helping buy books for the children, organizing field trips to museums and other educational attractions, and providing bus transportation to and from classes. All of this is done on about $45,000 a year.

"We are bare bones," Garcia said, "but it is a very vital program. DuPage County is one of the wealthiest counties in the nation, but there is a growing segment that has literacy needs."

Bensenville has long been a gateway for Hispanic workers coming to the U.S. in search of jobs, and that trend shows no signs of abating, she said.

For Edna Tapia, of Addison, the people she has met in the program have become like a second family for her and her two children, ages 2 and 5.

"It's hard to learn English," Tapia said through a translator. "Sometimes I am embarrassed to speak it and here they help me do that."

For these women, Project Puente is the primary link to the outside world, say social service experts.

"The mothers are the hardest to reach and the ones who suffer the most in immigrating here. The fathers work, and the children are at school, but the mothers are at home," said Sister Laurina Kahne, of St. Alexis Catholic church.

"This is a whole new cultural experience and God bless them that they are willing to try," she said.